My current research looks at LGBTQ archives as sites for collective memory, activism and community development. I am particularly interested in the role of community archives in a Canadian context where collecting practices have traditionally followed a total archives approach.
I approach my work from a social justice perspective and recognize that our personal and cultural identities are formed within the same social contexts that priviledge some voices while silencing others.
Research Primers [click on title to access]
Total Archives and the (Brief) History of Public Archives in Canada
Theories of Memory: Research Notes on the Development of Memory Studies
Selected Publications
- Rebecka Sheffield, Sean Kidd & Kwame McKenzie. (2011). "Trans Programming at the 519 Church Street Community Centre: A Case Study in Social Entrepreneurship." Forthcoming. [DRAFT]
- Wendy M. Duff, Joan M. Cherry & Rebecka Sheffield. (2010). "‘Creating a Better Understanding of Who We Are’: A Survey of Graduates of a Museum Studies Program." Museum Management & Curatorship 24(5).
- Wendy M. Duff, Elizabeth Yakel, Helen R. Tibbo, Joan M. Cherry, Aprille McKay, Magia G. Krause & Rebecka Sheffield. (2010). "The Development, Testing, and Evaluation of the Archival Metrics Project." American Archivist 73(2).
- Wendy Duff, Jennifer Carter, Costis Dallas, Lynne Howarth, Seamus Ross, Rebecka Sheffield & Cassandra Tilson, “The Changing Museum Environment in North America and the Impact of Technology on Museum Work." In Proceedings: Cultural Heritage On Line. Empowering Users: An Active Role for User Communities. Rinascimento Digitale, Florence (2009), 103-107. [PDF]
- Rebecka Sheffield & Marcel Barriault, eds. (2009). Special Section on Queer Archives. Archivaria 68. [PDF]
- Rebecka Sheffield. (2009). "Smelly Knowledge": An Information Audit of the Sunnydale High Library in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Faculty of Information Quarterly 2(1). [PDF]
- Rebecka Sheffield. (2008). “We’d Lose Our Shirt!”: How Canada’s Cultural Policy Has Shaped the Canadian Literary Canon. Faculty of Information Quarterly 1(3). [PDF]
- Rebecka Sheffield & Kate Zieman, eds. (2005). We're Here, We're Queer, We're Used to It: A Colleciton of Writing by Young Queer Women. Toronto: homosaywhat? [webiste]
Selected Presentations
- "Collaboration: Student/Faculty; Student/Student; Faculty/Faculty". AERI Archival Education & Research Institute, Boston, MA. July 14, 2011
- "Sustaining Passion and Encouraging Diversity: Community Engagement at the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives" LGBT Archives-Libraries-Museums-Special Collections (ALMS) grassroots conference, West Hollywood, CA. May 13, 2011
- "Investigating the Information Seeking Behaviour of LGBT Prospective Parents During the Adoption Process". Social Aetiology of Mental Illness Training Program inaugural conference, CAMH, Toronto, ON. November 19, 2010
- "To Begin in the Archives: Positioning Queer Archives as Tactics of Pleasure". Doing Queer Studies Now conference, University of Michigan Ann Arbor. October 21-23, 2010
- “Rainbow Holinger Boxes: Outreach and Advocacy at the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Archives”. American Library Associaition annual conference, Washington, DC. June 27, 2010
- "There's a Gay Archives?": Outreach and Advocacy at the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Archives". IA3C Graduate Conference at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information, Toronto, ON. March 29, 2010
- " 'We’d Lose Our Shirt!': How Canada’s Cultural Policy Has Shaped the Canadian Literary Canon". Housing Memories Graduate Conference at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information, Toronto, ON. March 2009
- "Confidential Pride: Balancing Access and Privacy in Queer Archives". Association of Canadian Archivists annual conference, Fredericton, NB. June 200
